Pong Su chief 'knew of heroin'

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The political secretary on the North Korean ship Pong Su was a
person of authority who knew the vessel travelled to Australia to
allow a heroin importation, a jury heard yesterday.

Prosecutor John Champion, SC, told the Supreme Court it was not
part of the case against four crew members that the North Korean
Government or any of its agencies instigated or sponsored the
125-kilogram drug drop near Lorne on the night of April 15,
2003.

Dong Song Choi, 61, the ship's political secretary since January
2000, knew heroin was being carried on the Pong Su, and that the
object of the ship's voyage was to stop at the Australian coastline
so a cargo of heroin could be dropped off, Mr Champion said.

Choi, Man Sun Song, 65, the ship's captain, Man Jin Ri, 51, the
first officer, and Ju Chon Ri, 51, the chief engineer, have pleaded
not guilty to aiding and abetting the importation of a commercial
quantity of heroin.

Choi, also described as a political vice-president, had a
powerful position on the ship, Mr Champion said.

Mr Champion told the jury and Justice Murray Kellam that
documents purporting to show the ship had a genuine charter
arrangement to bring it to Australia were a sham.

The documents concerned a proposed shipment of BMW
four-wheel-drive vehicles to Malaysia, but a businessman approached
about the delivery would describe one document as a forgery, he
said.

He said it was alleged the accused men never held any genuine
belief that they were engaged in a genuine charter voyage.

"The Crown case is that (the four men) were not unwitting dupes
as to the real nature of the voyage being conducted by the Pong
Su," he said.